Stock car partition



March 14, 1950 E. w. KIDWELI.

sTocK CAR PARTITION 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed June 8, 1945 @W X @m March 14, 1950 E. w. KIDWELL sTocK CAR PARTITION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 8, 1945 mig?? [cz/ward atented Mar. 14, 1950 `UNH-151D STATES PATENT l OFFICE s'rooKoAR riiitrrilolxi` Edward ,W. Kidwell, Ogden Dunes, Ind.

Application June 8, 1945, Serial No. 598,231. ,i

(Cl. 160--216)v 4 Claims. v l

It is frequently necessary to put a partition across a stockcar, as Vfor. example when cattle are to be placed in one end of the car and sheep in the other` end. There have been various suggestions for built-in or prefabricated partitions but none of themv have really satisiled'the need and hence the common practice has been to have carpenters build the partition in the car when required.

One reason why previoussuggestions have been unsatisfactory is because stock cars are not uniform in width. Accordingly if a partition is to be interchangeable between cars it must be adinstable. Proposals for adjustable partitions heretofore have not been sufficiently simple. Simplicity is desirable bothin construction, to minihuize cost, and in operation to facilitate application to the car.

According to the present invention the partition may be made entirely of lumber and spikes and it is formed of two rigid parts which telescope with respect to one anothersuiciently to t different stock cars.

Additional objects land `advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and from the drawings in which Fig. 1v is a fragmentary transverse sectional view through a stock car showing the side lelevation of the partition chosen for'illustration of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional View showing the top View of the partition;

Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1 but showing the partition collapsed and being inserted;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional detailed view taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional View taken approximately on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Although the law requires a full and exact description of at least one form of the' invention, such as that which follows, it is, of course, the purpose of a patent to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how itv may later be disguised by variations in formor additions of further improvements; and the appendedv claims are intended to accomplish this purpose by par'- ticularly pointing out the parts, improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

In the illustrated form of the invention the partition includes end posts I I and I2, intermediate posts i3 and I4. top rail I 6, intermediate rail I '1, and bottom rail I3.

As seen in Fig. 2 each of the posts includes 2 f two upright boards: Thesefboards are secured together and to appropriate -railsby spikes I9.

As indicated by thespike positions in Figures 1 and 3, the two boards of post II are rigidly spiked to: intermediaterail I1. Likewise the two boards of post I4 are rigidly spiked to rail I1. On the other hand the-twoboards of vpost I3 and the two boards of the post I2 are all spikedrigidly to upper and lower rails JIS and I8.

From the foregoing: it is seen that upper and lower rails I6 and I8 together with postsIZ and I3 make up onev rigidv unit. Intermediatexrail I'I and posts II and I4 make up another rigid unit. These A-two units' are notl secured .together and hence may telescopewith respect to one, another. Thus it will be seen that rails I6 and I3 slide between the two boards of :post II and also between the two boards of post I4. Intermediate rail I'I slides between the two boards of post I3 and the two boards of post I2. I Toguide the rails in their sliding movement, andv also .to add some rigidity to the.post-construction,,spikes 2| are provided below each rail where it,A slides through a post and also above each of rails Il and I8 where either one-slides through apost. g

The structure as thuszdescribed-is-rm enough to be carried around and carried into aicareasily'.

The length of the rails I6, PIL and I8, could be the inside widthx of the narrowestzcars in which. the partition is likely to be used. 1 At the present time-the length preferred isv 8 5ft'. 3- inches. v This then will be the length of the. partition ywhen it is fully-collapsed as seen. in Figf3'. Itcan then be expanded almostthe full width of the post `I I without being V'materially weakened since allof the rails will still extend Ainto all `of the posts.

A collapsed lengthv of an evenfeight'feet may be preferred by some shippers, because some cars, are that narrow.A Occasionally there/'are exceptionally wide cars which may require expanding such a partition untilthe rails I6 and' I8 'have been drawn entirely outof post '.I Iv and the rails I1 lentirely out of post I2. It has been found thatthis is not objectionable since the. partition has adequate strength.,V

If it should be desired to make the partition of somewhat lighter lumber, it might not have adequate strength when expanded to draw the rails out of the end posts. Accordingly if such light lumber is used it will be desirable either to make the rails a little longer and for extremely narrow cars cut them off or leave the partition at a slight angle, or else to use wider boards for the posts II and I2. Alternatively additional posts similar to posts I3 and I4 could be provided close to the posts Il and l2.

The drawings are approximately to scale. The rails I6, l1, and I8 are preferably nominally 2" x 6" planks. The posts Il and I2 are prefer ably formed of planks which are nominally 2f X 81]' The space between rails l1 and i8 is large enough so that some small animals can climb between these rails. Accordingly if such animals are being shipped it is desirable to insert an additional bar 23 through the posts I3 and i4 and extending into posts H and l2. Spikes 24 are preferably provided in all partitions for the bar 23 to rest on, if it should be required.

The partition may be secured in place in any desired manner. For example, bolts' 26 may be provided, equipped with cleats 21 and 28. The cleats 2l will be turned in a generally vertical position to straddle two of the boards 29 forming a side wall of the car. The cleat 28 will be turned in a generally horizontal position to straddle two boards of one of the posts l l or l2. A nut, such as wing nut 3l can be tightened on bolt 26 to clamp post Il firmly against boards 29.

It will often be preferred merely to use lengths of wires 32 instead of bolts 26, especially if the bolt would interfere with the bar 23. The wire may be applied as seen at the lower portion of Fig. 1 by being passed around one of the boards 29 and around one or both of the boards of the post il, the two ends of the wire being twisted together. The car uprights 33 or diagonal bracing members are usually close enough together so there is no danger of the wire 32 sliding too far along a bar 29. Of course it can easily be twisted tightly enough so that it will ordinarily not Slide at all.

From the' foregoing it is seen that a partition has been invented which can be manufactured very simply and inexpensively from ordinary lumber and which may easily be applied to stock cars of varying widths. All of the lumber comprises simple boards having no expensive, special shaping. Anyone who ships stock frequently can maintain a supply yof these partitions and one of them can be adjusted in place by the stock handlers whenever required. Heretofore it has often been deemed necessary to have a crew of carpenters at hand when such a partition was to be required. There have even been times in'which the carpenters have had to wait idly for hours due to delay in receipt of the car in which they were to build a partition. Built-in partitions in the cars were usually scrapped when removed and the removal required a substantial amount of work. The present partitions can often be reused because they can be removed easily and without damage.

I claim:

1. A partition for stock cars including two end posts and two intermediate posts all in alignment, each comprising two vertically extending boards; at least three vertically spaced rails of substantially equal length two of` which are secured to one end post and one to the other end post, each of which rails extends from the post to which it is secured slideably between the boards of an intermediate post, and thence between the boards of the other intermediate post, being secured thereto, and extends therebeyond to extend between the boards of the other end post while all of said posts are spaced substantially apart.

2. A partition for stock cars including two end posts and two intermediate posts all in alignment; at least three vertically spaced rails of substantially equal length two of which are secured to one end post and one to the other end post, each of which rails extends from the end post to which it is secured past an intermediate post in guided sliding relationship therewith and thence to the other intermediate post, to which it is secured, and extending therebeyond to extend into guided sliding relationship with the other end post while all of said posts are substantially spaced apart.

3. A partition for stock cars including two end posts and at least one intermediate post all substantially in alignment; and at least three vertically spaced rails forming with the posts two telescoping units, one unit having upper and lower generally horizontal rails secured at one end to one of the end posts and at an intermediate point to an intermediate post, and the other unit including a generally horizontal rail spaced vertically from the other rails and secured at one end to the other end post, and each rail having a guided sliding relationship with each post of the other unit while the posts are all spaced substantially apart.

4. A partition for stock cars including two end posts and at least one intermediate post all substantially in alignment; and at least three vertically spaced rails forming with the post two telescoping units, one unit having upper and lower generally horizontal rails secured at one end to one of the end posts and at an intermediate point to an intermediate post, and the other unit including a generally horizontal rail spaced vcrtically from the other rails and secured at one end to the other end post, each of said posts including two boards, one on each side of the rails, and each of said rails being guided within each post of the other unit, while the posts are all spaced substantially apart, by means extendingr between and into the boards of the posts, at least one of the rails being thus guided both above and below said rail to provide a rm construction.

EDWARD W. KIDWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 285,611 Gosshorn l Sept. 25, 1883 649,134 Mathews May 8, 1900 675,493 Miller June 4, 1901 903,695 Foster Nov. 10, 1908 1,410,980 White May 28, 1922 

